One of the most disconcerting sensations is walking in a supermarket and not hear any music. The absence of the music or its inestimable volume is very embarrassing and does not accompany the customer journey: listening to the barcode sound when scanning the products, the squeaking of the trolleys or the conversations in the adjacent aisle… The fact is that background music in supermarkets is essential to create a pleasant buying environment, as well as motivating employees. In this way, music is very present in the supermarkets and, as in other sectors, is important to have a content strategy according to each brand.
Music strategy in supermarkets
Sometimes it is understood that the music marketing strategy is just the selection of some specific tracks according to the brand’s musical style. But we must know that a music marketing strategy goes beyond this selection.
Music marketing strategy professionals are specialists in creating music concepts that adapt to the brand’s evolution and its establishments. What does this mean? Music strategy requires constant maintenance, considering technical support and content management. These professionals are experts in adapting the music concept according to brands, thinking about the present, and his evolution over the years.
Music in supermarkets become a powerful communication tool at the point of sale. Through background music, the brand and the manufacturers can promote products and strengthen their campaigns.
How do promotional messages or advertisements works?
Promotional messages are marketing campaigns in the background music, and are combined with the music. When we talk about the in-store music strategy, it is important to understand that there are different types of strategies depending on the communication purpose:
- Informative messages playback at specific times
- Promotions playback every “x” minutes
- Warnings that playback is based on an external signal
- Motivational messages playback out of business hours
Information messages that playback at specific times
A very important feature of Waapiti management platform -our tool to manage and distribute musical content- is to launch messages at specific times, such as welcome or closing messages. Supermarkets apply this strategy when they need to give a warning at a specific time.
Bonpreu and Esclat supermarkets are an example of how this technology is used to automate their closing messages. In this case, the schedules of each store are fully synchronized with the music distribution platform, so that workers do not have to worry about anything. They have two automatically reminders per day: one 10 minutes before closing time and another one just at closing time. These messages contemplate holiday schedules and special hours.
Promotions that playback every x minutes
These are the most common promotions used by supermarkets. These are marketing campaigns based on brand and product advertisement. Advertisers and manufacturers value being able to track their promotion slots, so they can be sure that at least the consumer who has spent an average of 10-15 minutes will have heard their message.
Warnings that playback based on an external signal
These information messages depend on an external factor such as an alarm signal. They are usually programmed for emergency, such as when a fire alarm is activated.
Motivational messages that playback out of business hours
Increasingly, brands are using this communication to get closer to their workers. Motivational messages play on the in-store music outside of business hours, before opening or after closing the supermarket.
The brands used the music to communicate with their employees, thus establishing a closer relationship between management and workers. Some examples are messages to congratulate on birthdays, special dates such as Christmas, or even to launch internal communication campaigns.
Can we target commercials according to stores?
Supermarket chains sometimes are worried about playing a commercial in a supermarket that does not have this offer. It is important to know that smart distribution based on tagging content and players, reduce human errors. We can create different groups of stores, identify them with one or several labels and assign them specific promotions. In this way, when we program the commercial, each group of stores will play only the current promotions.
In this way, the background music becomes a powerful tool for segmented communication. You can program the commercial by assortments, by languages, by zones or by any other criterion you need.